Gauging apparatus



1944. Y H. E. HOUSE 2,356,242

I GAUGING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 3, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l I IN V EN TOR. W 3 fierer 5 House BYMZ Patented Aug. 22, 1944 GAUGING APPARATUS Herbert E. House, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Application February 3, 1943, Serial No. 474,595

16 Claims.

This invention relates, in general, to a gauging device, and, in particular, to a gauge to be used on a machine for processing flanged articles.

An object of the invention is to automatically stop an article processing machine by means of a gauge adapted to differentiate between articles of standard and substandard dimensions. A further object is to detect articles having thin flanges by tilting the articles with respect to the supporting means of the machine. A still further object is to provide means on the article gauge to enable removal of the tilted articles from the supporting means.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in greater detail in the following specification which describes one form of the invention particularly adapted to the specific type of machine illustrated herein.

It will be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited thereby and moreover includes all modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic front elevation of a cartridge case tapering press.

Fig. 2. is a plan view of the feed table an transfer spider of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View of a portion of the transfer spider showing the gauging device of this invention mounted there- Fig. 4 isa sectional elevation on line 4- of Fig.3.

The machine chosen to illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a well known type of tapering press widely used in the production of small arms ammunition components, and, in particular, cartridge cases.

Cartridge cases of .30 and .50 caliber are usually formed from a metal blank such as brass or harder metal by a series of drawing operations with surface and/or heat treatments between successive draws until a deep drawn tubular case is formed having a substantially domeshaped closed end. These cases are trimmed to length and thereafter headed by a series of operations wherein the domed ends of the cases are flattened and pockets are formed therein for the percussion caps. Additional trimming is done on the open ends of the cases, whereupon the cases are then fed into a head turning machine which cuts a bevelled rim and an extraction groove in the head of each case.

Following proper heat treatment, the cases are extend over the rims of the cases and engage in the extraction grooves thereof. The fingers thus constitute means for holding the heads of the cases down on the table top during the several inspection, mouth ironing and tapering operations. Moreover, an upstanding rim is provided on the periphery of the table so as to prevent the cases from moving radiall out of the open ends of the bifurcated fingers.

It will be evident, therefore, that when a case has been fed to the spider, there is no way of removing the case from they spider prior to its transfer to the several tapering dies. Conse quently, if a case of substandard dimensions which, for the purposes of this specification, shall be understood to mean one having a thin rim is fed to the spider, it will be carried around to the tapering dies where, in all probability, its thin rim will give way as the tapering dies are being stripped from the case, thereby causing a smash-up resulting in the destruction of one or more cases and damage to the dies and holddown punches. 1 The present invention provides gauge means for detecting cases having thin rims and which have been fed to the traversing spider; and means associated with the detector for enabling the removal of the substandard cases before they have been transferred to the tapering dies.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a cartridge case tapering press which comprises a base I!) having a substantially vertical frame I l adapted to rotatably mount a horizontally disposed crank shaft l2 driven by a flywheel 13 connected by a belt [4 to a suitable motor l5 or other source of power.

The crank shaft I2 carries a pair of crank arms it having a crank pin connection with a press gate I! which is adapted to be reciprocated in the vertical frame II by the crank arms I6. Slidingly mounted in an aperture I8 of the press gate I1 is a secondary gate I9 carried on the lower end of a rod 29 which is reciprocatingly mounted in the upper part of the gate [1 and actuated by a cam and roller drive means associated with the crank shaft l2. The secondary gate itself supports a pair of tools or hold-down punches 22 and 22 which extend down through suitable apertures in the press gate I1 axially of a pair of tapering dies, indicated generally at 23 and 23, mounted on the gate. The secondary gate driving means is adapted to reciprocate the holddown punches 22 and 22' relative to the reciprocating tapering dies 23 and 23 so that the punches will enter the cases prior to the tapering operation and hold the cases down positively on the top of the transfer table 29 during both the tapering operation and while the dies are being stripped off of the tapered cases.

Cases are fed to the transfer dial 29 from a suitable feed table 30, see Fig. 2, by means of a well known type of feeding arm 32 which advances the individual cases from the feed table forwardly into the bifurcated fingers 33 of a transfer spider 34 which is adapted to rotate intermittently over the surface of the table 29, the latter being fixedly mounted .on the frame l0.

As shown in Fig. 4, the fingers 33 of the spider are disposed in a horizontal plane substantially parallel to but spaced slightly above the plane of the table 29, the vertical distance between the table top and fingers corresponding substantially to the thickness of the rim of a cartridge of standard dimensions.

As cases are fed onto the table 29, the rims of the cases pass beneath the fingers 33 and the latter engagein the extraction grooves of the cases. It will be evident that standard cases will thus be effectively held down squarely on the table top 29, as they are being moved around to successive operating stations by the intermittently rotating spider.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the ends of the fingers 33 terminate just short of engagement with the inner peripheral surface of a rim 35 of the table 29, therim' extending somewhat higher above the table top than the fingers 33. Thus, a case, which has been fed into the fingers 33, is prevented by the rim 35 from movingoutwardly radially from the fingers during its entire movement around the table.

Thetapering press, thus far described, is one of a type which is widely used and doubtless well known to those skilled in the art, and hence a more detailed description thereof for the purpose of describing the present invention is believed to be unnecessary.

The gauge means of this invention for automatically gauging and enabling the removal of substandard cases which have been fed inadvertently into the fingers 33 of the spider is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4 and comprises an arm 40 havingan enlarged portion 4| at its rear end drilled to receive a bolt 42 which extends down through a vertically drilled boss 43 of the frame In so as to pivotally support the arm 49 in the horizontal plane of the transfer spider and at the right side thereof, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The opposite or front end of the arm 40 is formed with a shoe 44 which projects at substantially right angles from one side of the arm and has an arcuate vertical edge or surface 45. The latter is shaped like a short segment of the rim 35 of the table 29 and is adapted to be held normally by the arm 40 in an aperture 45 of corresponding dimensions cut out of the rim 35. The surface45 thus constitutes a displaceable arcuate rim section of the fixed rim 35 of the table. Suitable resilient means for holding the rim section in its normal position may comprise a.

semicoiled spring 46 secured by the bolt 42 to the arm 40 and having a resilient reach 46 adapted to extend across the arm and engage the outer edge thereof. A stop comprising a depending boss 41 of the arm 40 is adapted normally to engage the fixed table 29 for limiting pivotal movement thereof, see Fig. 4, so that the surface of the shoe and the inner periphery of the rim 35 will form a substantially smooth continuous surface when the shoe 45 is in its normal position. Although a boss or lug is one satisfactory type of stop, it will be understood that other obviously similar types of stop means may be used. A second boss or lug 48 is provided at the extreme front end of the arm 40 and constitutes means to facilitate swinging the arm about its pivot bolt 42.

Referring to Fig. 4, a post 49 is secured by a weld joint or other fastening means substantially vertically on the front end of the arm 49 and carries a bushing 50 which is welded or otherwise fixedly secured to its upper end, the bore 52 of the bushing lying in a substantially horizontal plane and at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the arm 40. A plunger or rod 53 is mounted to slide freely in the bore 52 of the bushing and is provided with an enlarged semispherical smooth metallic head 54 at its cartridge case engaging end. A coil compression spring 55, considerably lighter than the spring 46, is carried on the rod 53, the opposite ends of the spring 55 abutting the flat surfaces 56 and 51 of the head 54 and bushing 50 respectively.

Suitable means for securing the plunger in the bushing and for adjusting the compression force of the spring 55 comprises an adjusting nut 58 and lock nut 59 on the threaded end 60 of the rod 53. The height of the post 49 is suitably proportioned so that when the plunger head 54 is in its normal operating position, it will engage the side of a case Bl of standard dimensions at a point substantially adjacent the top third of the case.

Furthermore, the arm 40 is pivoted to the frame In at a point such that the plunger head 54 is located substantially at the first inspection station of the transfer dial. The first inspection station is indicated in Fig. 1 by a cartridge case mouth opening punch 62 which is carried by the reciprocating gate l1 and which is operatively associated with a well known type of stop switch 63 adapted to open and close the circuit of the drive means or motor I5.

In operation, cases are fed either automatically or manually from the table 30 into the fingers of the intermittently rotating spider of the dial table. As the cases are moved counterclockwise, see Fig. 2, they are brought into engagementwith the resiliently mounted plunger head 54. If the cases are of standard rim thickness, they will be firmly supported upright on the dial table by the overlying fingers 33 of the spider, and, consequently, will not be tipped when brought into engagement with the plunger head,,the latter being, as a consequence, pushed back against the force of the spring 55. Since the coil spring 46; of the pivoted arm 40 is relatively heavy, no movement of the arm 40 occurs. The standard case will thus be maintained in a substantially vertical position and in axial alignment with the inspection punch 62, so that the latter is free to move down uninterruptedly into the mouth of the case. However, when a substandard or thin rimmed case is carried into engagement with the plunger head, the case will be displaced from the vertical due to the loose fit of its rim beneath the fingers of the spider. The spring 55 of the plunger head will exert sufficient lateral force to tip the case about the edge of its rim as a fulcrum point, as shown by the dotted lines of Fig. 4. l V

Hence, as the inspectionpunch 62 starts to move downwardly, it will strike on the mouth of the tilted cases, whereupon the stop' switch 63 associated with the inspection punch will be actuated and automatically stop the press.

The resiliently mounted plunger thus constitutes gauge means forfdifierentiating between standard and substandard cases by exerting a lateral force against each. cartridge case as it is being fed to the inspection punch, so as to tilt the cases having substandard 'orthin rims and thereby automatically stop the press.

In order to remove the substandard case from beneath the fingers of the spider, it is only necessary for the operator-to push his thumb against the lug 48 of the arm to and pivot the arm counterclockwise against the restraining force of the coil spring 45,- see dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus withdrawing the rim segment 44 from the aperture 45' in the rim of the table. The substandard case may then be readily slipped out radially from beneath the fingers through the aperture in the rim.

The present invention, as illustrated in .the'

embodiment described above, thus provides means for detecting and eliminating cases having thin heads from the transfer spider of a cartridge case tapering press, and hence prevents the occurrence of jams and injury to the dies and punches. Moreover, the gauging means effects a saving in manufacturing costs due to the removal of the defective case at an early stage of production and before subsequent operations have added to its cost.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine for processing flanged articles comprising imperforate article supporting means; reciprocable article inspection means at a station on said supporting means; means for feeding artcles to saidinspection station, said feeding means being adapted to extend over the flange of an article to hold article ofstandard flange thickness substantially perpendicularly on said supporting means; means fordetecting the thickness of said flange comprising a resilient member adapted to engage and exert a lateral force against all articles on said supporting means to tilt those articles having flanges of substandard thickness from a perpendicular position on said supporting means so as to be engaged by said reciprocable inspection means; and means responsive to the engagement of said inspection means with said tilted article to stop said feeding means.

2. A machine for processing flanged articles comprising article supporting means; an article retaining rim on said supporting means, said rim having an aperture; article inspection means at a station on said supporting means at said aperture; means for transmitting articles to said inspection station comprising fingers adapted to extend over the flange of an article for holding an article of standard flange thickness substantially vertically on said supporting means; means for gauging the thickness of said flange comprising means at said inspection station adapted to exert a lateral force against an article on said supporting means at a point on said article remote from said flange whereby articles having flanges of substandard thickness will be tilted on, said supporting means so as to be engaged by said inspection means; and means carried by said force exerting means normally to close the aperture in said retaining rim and to open said aperture for the removal of tilted articlesfrom said article transmitting fingers.

'3. A. machine for processing flanged articles comprising article supporting means; an article retaining rim on said supporting means, said rim having an aperture; article inspection means at a station on said supporting means at said aperture; means for transmitting articles to said inspection station comprising fingers adapted to extend over the flange of an article for holding an article of standard flange thickness substantially vertically on said supporting means; and means for gauging the thickness of said flange comprising an article engaging means mounted at said inspection station adapted to exert a lateral force against an article on said support ng means at a point on said article remote from said flange whereby articles having flanges of substandard thickness will be tilted on said supporting means so as to be engaged by said inspection means, said article engaging means having a member adapted normally to close the aperture in said retaining rim and to open the aperture for the removal of tilted articles from said article transmitting fingers.

4. A machine for processing flanged articles having a mouth comprising article supporting means; an article retaining rim on said supporting means, said rim having an aperture; mouth opening means at a station on said supporting means at said aperture; means for transmitting articles to said mouth opening station comprising fingers adapted to extend over the flange of an article for holding an article of standard flange thickness substantially vertically on said supporting means; and means for gauging the thickness of said flange comprising a spring urged plunger pivotally supported on said supporting means in the path of articles being fed to said mouth opening station to engage and exert a lateral force against an article at said opening station at a point on said article remote from said flange whereby articles having flanges of substandard thickness will be tilted up on said supporting means so as to be engaged by sa d opening means, said resilient means hav ng an arouate member adapted normally to close the apertureflin said retaining rim and to open the aperture for the removal from said fingers of a sub- 65. standard article which has been tilted by said resilient means.

5. In a machine for processing articles having a flange portion, the combination with article supporting means having an article retaining rim and an aperture in said rim, article inspection means at a station on said supporting means at the aperture in said rim, and means for transmitting articles to and from said inspection station comprising fingers adapted to extend over the flange portion of an article for holding an article of standard flange thickness substantially vertically on said supporting means; of flange gauging means comprising a resilient member adapted to engage the articles at said inspection station and to exert a lateral force thereon at a point remote from its flange portion whereby an article having a flange of substandard thickness will be tilted up on said supporting means so as to be engaged by said inspection means; and an arcuate rim section carried by the resilient member adapted normally to close the aperture in the rim of said supporting means and to be withdrawn to open the aperture to enable removal of tilted articles from the article transmitting fingers.

6. In a machine for processing tubular articles having a mouth and a rim, the combination with article supporting means having a peripheral rim for retaining articles on said supporting means and an aperture in said rim, reciprocating mouth opening means at a station on said supporting means at the aperture in said rim, means for transmitting articles to and from said mouth opening station comprising a rotatable spider having fingers adapted to extend over the rim of an article and to abut the inner periphery of the retaining rim of said supporting means for holding articles of standard rim thickness on said supporting means, and means for rotating said spider; of flange gauging means comprising a resilient plunger disposed in the path of articles being transmitted to said mouth opening station, said plunger being adapted to engage the articles at said mouth opening station and to exert a lateral force thereon at a point remote from its rim whereby articles having flanges of substandard thickness will be tilted up on said supporting means and thrust into the path of the mouth opening means; means actuated by the engagement of said opening means with said tilted article to stop the rotating of said article transmitting spider; and a rim segment carried by said plunger adapted normally to close the aperture in the rim of said supporting means and to be withdrawn to open said aperture to enable removal of the tilted article from the fingers of said spider.

7. A machine for gauging flanged articles comprising article supporting means; means adapted to extend over the flange of an article for holding an article of standard flange thickness substantially perpendicularly on said supporting means; and means to detect articles having flanges of substandard thickness comprising a reciprocable inspection punch in axial alignment with an article supported perpendicularly on said supporting means, and a member constructed and arranged to engage each article on said supporting means to tilt an article of substandard flange thickness out of axial alignment with said inspection punch.

8. A machine for gauging flanged articles comprising article supporting means; an article inspection station; article feeding means adapted to move an article intermittently over said supporting means to said inspection station and having elements thereon to extend over the flange of an article to hold an article of standard flange thickness substantially perpendicularly on said supporting means; means to detect articles having flanges of substandard thickness comprising a reciprocable punch at. said inspection station in axial alignment with an articl supported perpendicularly on said supporting means, and a member constructed and arranged to engage each article on said supporting means to tilt an article of substandard flange thickness out of axial alignment with said inspection punch; and means responsive to engagement of said inspection punch with said tilted article to stop said feeding means.

9. A machine for gauging flanged articles comprising article supporting means; a member on said supporting means to retain articles thereon; an article inspection station; article feeding means adapted to move articles intermittently over said supporting means to said inspection station and having elements thereon to extend over the flange of an article to hold an article of standard flange thickness substantially perpendicularly on said supporting means; means to detect articles having flanges of substandard thickness comprising a reciprocable punch at said inspection station in axial alignment with an article supported perpendicularly on said supporting means, and a member pivotally mounted on said machine of engage each article on said supporting means and to tilt an article of substandard flange thickness out of axial alignment with said inspection punch; and an element comprising a displaceable section of said article retaining member carried by said article tilting member and adapted to be manually actuated for removing the tiltable article from said supporting means.

10. In a machine for gauging flanged articles, the combination with a gauge comprising article supporting means and means mounted above said supporting means constructed and arranged to extend over the flange of an article supported thereon to hold an article of standard flange thickness perpendicularly on said supporting means; of means to detect articles having flanges of substandard thickness comprising a reciprocable inspection punch in axial alignment with articles supported perpendicularly in said gauge, and a member constructed and arranged to engage each article in said gauge and to tilt an article of substandard flange thickness out of axial alignment with said inspection punch.

HERBERT E. HOUSE. 

